Black Panthers: Missouri Robbery, Shooting Separate Issues

Michael Brown's alleged involvement in a robbery in Ferguson, Missouri, in no way justifies the teen's fatal shooting by a police officer, says Minister Quanell X, national spokesman for the New Black Panther Nation.

"If Michael Brown was involved in a robbery, well then he should [have received] due process,'' Quanell said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"At the end of the day, it does not make him any guiltier of what happened on the day of the shooting. That shooting has nothing to do with what he allegedly did at the store.''

Quanell, who is also leader of the New Black Panther Party in Texas, said police should have immediately released the name of the officer who shot Brown last Saturday — a tragedy that sparked days of rioting and racial unrest.

"Absolutely, because a public servant who works as a police officer who's paid by the taxpayers, his or her name should always be released,'' Quanell said. "No one who pulls on the payroll of the taxpayers should be allowed to keep their name secret because they have been involved directly or indirectly, justly or maybe unjustly in the [shooting] of someone.

"The fact that you will not release the name makes the people very suspicious that there is some conspiratorial mindset behind [it] … a further injustice to the black community.''